Music Licensing Is Becoming a Brand Virtue, Not Just a Legal Box

New research on 1,250 shoppers, commissioned by licensing body OneMusic with Inside Retail, found that being licensed is now a trust signal customers reward, and its absence one they punish. The study was run in Australia and New Zealand, but the behaviour it describes is about shoppers, not geography.

Most shoppers don’t know it’s the law

In the study, 56% of consumers didn’t realise that playing music in a commercial setting requires a licence. Europe is no different. In most European countries, playing music in a business requires authorisation, typically arranged through national collecting societies such as SACEM in France, GEMA in Germany or SIAE in Italy, often with a separate fee for recording rights, unless the music is licensed directly by its owner.

That knowledge gap has created a grey zone where some operators gamble on not being caught. The research argues that calculation is getting short-sighted: as awareness grows, so does the expectation that businesses operate ethically and within the law. European societies are among the most active enforcers anywhere.

Being licensed reads as doing the right thing

When shoppers were shown a “Licensed to Play” sticker in a business window, sentiment was strongly favourable. It signals a credible operator who respects the value chain and pays suppliers properly, whether that’s a coffee roaster or a songwriter.

Metric	Australia	New Zealand
View a licensed venue positively because it shows the business is “doing the right thing”	27%	30%
Would judge a non-compliant venue negatively and may take their spending elsewhere	11%	12%

There’s no reason to think a shopper in Lisbon or Warsaw weighs this differently to one in Melbourne.

Gen Z can hear the difference

“Royalty-free” playlists are a false economy if your audience skews young. In the study, 75% of Gen Z consumers could instantly tell real music from generic elevator music, and to them stock tracks read as budget, uncool and inauthentic. If your brand is about quality, your playlist has to feature quality music.

Three takeaways for European venues

• Get compliant. Whether through your national society or directly licensed music, compliance shields you from infringement claims.
• Show it. Displaying proof of your licence is a low-effort trust signal that resonates with around 30% of customers and alienates almost no one.
• Train your team. “We support the artists we play” turns a legal obligation into a brand story.

Do both, in one subscription

The research points to a real tension: play licensed, real music that younger customers respect, and prove you’re compliant. Melodial does both for only €6.99/month. Melodial owns its catalogue outright, so your subscription is the licence, with a professionally curated library and a Certificate of Compliance you can put in the window as your own trust asset.